dwell in the shell

bbqblues

I've heard of a method of grilling lobster
tails called "dwell in the shell"; Does anybody
know of this technique? Thanks.

nysportsfan

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75288

and

http://www.fredsmusicandbbq.com/category_s/198.htm

This morning Dee Dee, (sometimes know as "Wife-of-SmokinGuitarPlayer") decided to take a 2 day trip to the the New Jersey seashore house for some R&R so this left me home alone to work in my office and have a little more fun playing with Big Green Eggs.

Some of you may remember that yesterday I had the "Chicken Meets Mini" slugfest ...well today ... 2 lobster tails from Sammy's exclusive shopping club. $ 28.00 later I'm ready to do the test with a pair of frozen lobster tails.

Now outside my window, is the almost-virgin BGE Mini that was used yesterday for the now-infamous "Whole Chicken vs Mini" event ( over 200 of you viewed that story last night and this morning) and in my freezer are a couple of lobster tails that were originally bought for a special night... but instead ... time for another Mini challenge bout!

I'm going to try to use the "Dwell in the Shell" method. Here's how it goes.......................

Firstly, thaw the tails ala Alton Browns suggested method, put in a bowl and let cold running water run into the bowl until thawed ..around 15 to 20 minutes. (This works really good)

Crack each tail up the middle of the "top" of the tail/shell.

Remove membrane from the "inside" / underneath exposing the meat. rub some oil on the meat ..just a little bit. (I used melted butter)

The next step is to squeeze lime juice in there ..I don't have limes so I'll use a little lemon squeezings they are almost the same anyway right?

Sprinkle on garlic powder and a little Lowery's seasoned salt. I'm just going to use Bad Byron's Butt Rub instead.

Preheat cooker (the almost virgin Mini) to 400 to 450 ..that shouldn't be hard.

Place tails meat side down for 5 minutes (That seems like a LOT ...I'll be watching this very close)

Turn tails over, pour melted butter into each one and put back on upside down so they cook in their own juice and butter (the dwell part).

Close the lid and shut down the vents and let them in there for 5 minutes

This seems like a LOT of HOT cooking . I will watch them closely.



Time to get started .... prep the lobster tails.

First thing to note... when they thawed out ...the big one now looks bigger than it did when it was frozen ...the little one now looks littler than it did when it was frozen .... interesting.

Also ...the little one ... we'll call him "Little Guy" ... DOES NOT HAVE A HARD SHELL !! It's soft and leathery ...and there are remnants of a hard shell near the tale ..see the pics .... interesting ...

And.... the big one ...we'll call him "Big Guy" ..his shell is so freaking hard I can't split it like it says to do in the instructions so I'm skipping that part.

And again I'm using Bad Byron's Butt Rub because I have it handy from the Chicken event and it probably has most of that stuff in it anyway and I like it.
Egg setup:

Mini Egg.... old lump staying in, some fresh Humphrey Charcoal on top ..more really big pieces ..try to pick out some smaller ones , insert Big Green Egg FS24 fire starter and away we goo,,,,,,, one thing about a mini that I am starting to realize ...the tiny bugger gets up to temp very fast ... 5 minutes and the smoke is clear and the temp is 400 degrees!!

Cooking the tails:

After 5 to 10 minutes the Egg is at temp (450) ... oops ... the fire ring is still out from the chicken event ... insert fire ring , insert grate , tails go on face down and immediately catch on fire ... close the lid now.

After 5 minutes ....they are smellin good .... I opened the egg , removed both tails, turned on their "backs" and poured melted butter into on the bottoms ..then put back on the egg "face up" so they are like "cups" holding lobster meat and butter in them. Again, they immediately caught fire. Now I remember the "lotta bull" guy on TV last year won the lobster event with his lobsters and they were on fire when he cooked them so maybe this fire thing ain't so bad ....CLOSED the vents and let them "dwell in the shell" for 5 minutes.

At the 5 minute mark I pulled them .... fabulous ... .well "little guy" is fabulous ..."big guy" still isn't cooked fully ... so I put him back on and opened the vents and proceded to gobble up little guy and man was he good .... it took another 5 minutes or so to fully cook "big guy" and I had to cut him up the middle ... just kept putting on butter and catching him on fire ..the mini is great for this stuff ... .after maybe another 5 minutes BIG GUY was done, had the picture-taking session and then he was EATEN.

LET ME TELL YOU ....THIS WAS THE BEST LOBSTER TAILS I HAVE EVER EATEN BAR NONE.

INCLUDING RESTAURANTS ALL OVER THE WORLD AT ANY COST...THE BEST PERIOD.

So " Can you do great Lobster Tails on the Mini"
HELL YES YOU CAN !

Pics are there and they look damn good, too. Just passing it along.

Fidel

Dwell in the Shell

Posted By: Houndog

Ingredients:

4 Huge Lobster Tails
1 bit Peanut Oil
1-2 Ea Limes
Garlic Powder
1 Touch Lawry's Seasoning Salt
(Optional) New Mexican Green Chili Powder
Butter
Minced Garlic
Serves 2

Preparation:

Picked up 4 huge lobster tails. Thought at first, 1 pound tails for each of us would be ok. Naaaaahhhh - if two tails would be good, 4 tails for the two of us would be better, right ? Get your shears and cut the clear membrane off the belly of the tail, getting rid of the tiny feet, exposing the meat. Rinse them good, dry them with paper towel and place them shell side up on a cutting board. Take a heavy knife or cleaver, place it longwise (parallel) in the center of the shell and tap the back of the blade into the shell, cracking it ever so slightly. This is so our tail will lay flat on the grill. Do not take meat out of the shell ! Now flip them over, belly side up. Take a bit of oil ( I used peanut )and pour a small amount on your fingers, and lightly rub the meat. Don't use much at all, barely a drizzle. Grab a lime or two and squeeze juice and pulp all over the meat, liberally. Then shake on garlic powder and a touch of Lawry's seasoning salt. I then have to throw my favorite ingredient of all time, which goes on everything I cook, New Mexican green chili powder. Don't worry if you don't have this, it's hard to find, and your lobsters will still be far and above any lobster you ever had before. Place covered tails in fridge for an hour or so to marinade while your gettin' your cooker ready. Get a good hot bed of lump going and preheat your cooker to 400 - 450 degrees. As all of you know, when it comes to seafood and a good hot f

FlaPoolman

I've tried it several times but I think it's one of the few things thats not better on the egg. I still prefer steamed,,

Susan Egglaine

I am doing some tails tonight also. I just split on top, pat o butter, on the mini. YUM!

MemphisQue

Wow. Incredible pics. I am ready to try this method. I have cooked them on the egg but not this method.

rsmdale

It produce a great bug!!!



GOOD EATS AND GOOD FRIENDS

DALE

thirdeye

Dwell in the WHAT?? Heheheee. Yeah, I know it well. It works wonders for the warm water lobsters.

The one thing I omit (unless I get really large tails) is the skewer to keep them straight... I like for the tail to curl as it makes a nice boat for basting and you don't overcook the tais section as it curls up away from the heat.